Thursday

Contemporary art collectors at loose ends during the weekend between Thanksgiving and the start of Art Basel Miami Beach next week need cool their heels no longer.

The New Wave Art Wknd, which opens Friday and runs through Sunday, is designed to engage art lovers in Palm Beach before they descend on Miami.

Among the attractions: tours of private collections, panel discussions, and VIP receptions and dinners.

The weekend was conceived by Palm Beach gallery owner Sarah Gavlak. It started on a smaller scale last year with an event dubbed the Palm Beach Art Weekend that was modeled on similar festivities in Brussels, Berlin and Aspen, Colo.

“There was no reason we couldn’t do something like that in Palm Beach,” Gavlak said. “We have so many great art collectors here.”

Gavlak also is celebrating her gallery's relocation from a second-floor space on a via off Worth Avenue to a ground-floor location that's twice as large in the newly revitalized Royal Poinciana Plaza, where she's opening with a solo show of Nir Hod's recent abstract paintings and a group show.

One reason this year’s weekend is bigger is that Gavlak is working with a power advisory board.

“Palm Beach is such a wonderful community with terrific people and great art collections that not a lot of people know about,” Phelan said.

Collectors also might appreciate Palm Beach’s calmer vibe compared to the party scene in Miami, Bloomfield said. He’s chief executive officer of Forbes Family Trust, which recently gained a presence in Palm Beach with the acquisition of AM Global Family Investment Office.

Miami is just an hour and 15 minutes away, thanks to the roll-out of the Brightline high speed rail line this year.

Most events are by-invitation. But several, including an artist meet-and-greet at Culture Lab, aka the art destination that once housed Macy’s department store in CityPlace, will be open to the public.

Culture Lab will celebrate the completion of "Assemblage: An Organically Grown Exhibition," which has been adding artworks responding to the space since last spring.

“It's an experiential installation that been growing throughout the year with each piece referencing and changing the meaning of the pieces already there,” said Doreen Remen, founding partner of Culture Corps, which curated the exhibition.

Among the 20 works by 13 artists is Ioanna Pantazopoulou’s "T.E.E." (The Exotic Express). It features nine hammocks woven with commonplace objects, where visitors can lounge surrounded by lush foliage. The exhibition will be on view until next spring.

The pool of current and potential collectors in Palm Beach is widening, Bloomfield said.

“There are a lot of young people coming down there and people migrating there because of the tax changes in New York.”

Collectors opening their homes include residents Holzer, Lisa and Richard Perry, and Irene and Jim Karp as well as West Palm Beachers Burt Minkoff and DeWoody.

The Bunker, DeWoody’s private art facility in West Palm Beach, will unveil new installations. VIPs also can attend a conversation between the collector and Brielmaier about the future of culture as seen through DeWoody’s collection.

The weekend’s theme is inclusivity and immigration. That ties in with an immigrant artist in residency program the group hopes to launch in time for next year’s Art Wknd. Panel topics include Creating Space and Claiming Space: On Visibility and Representation in Contemporary Art and Women Who Are Affecting Change.

As many as 25 diverse artists, including Syrian-born Diana Al Hadid and black American Sanford Biggers will travel to Palm Beach for the occasion.

“To bring people in who would not necessarily find themselves in Palm Beach is very important,” said Gavlak, whose gallery has represented a diverse stable of artists since its inception in 2005. “It’s important for people in Palm Beach to learn about these artists and their world views.”

Tenenbaum, a panelist for Women Who Are Affecting Change, was drawn to the inclusive theme. “I thought it was fantastic and sorely needed on a lot of levels,” she said.

Beyond that “it’s an interesting niche that should distinguish this from other art weekends,” she said.